My adventures in raw and plant based desserts and the occasional savory recipe creation!

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Raw Jalapeno Lime Brownies

When it comes to brownies, I like mine fudgy. Fudgy over cakey any day. When I used to bake them, I would rap them on the counter to make them fall. Now when I make raw brownies, it is a little easier to make them fudgy, but I admit I am always trying to improve the texture. Well, this week I think I nailed it. The baked fudgy brownie texture in a raw brownie.

These weren't just plain brownies though, they were jalapeno lime brownies. My boyfriend is always telling me I need to incorporate more spicy things into my desserts. He had me make him a ghost pepper smoothie last week (one of the hottest pepper in the world). He loves sweet and spicy together, and especially with chocolate. So I figured I would do him a favor and flavor this batch of brownies to his liking since I had some fresh jalapenos laying around. The lime was to make the flavor pop, since I am a fan of citrus and chocolate together.

So how did I achieve this perfect texture? I used a vegetable. Shhh...I won't tell if you won't, but zucchini worked wonders here. You would never even know it was there. I even mixed in some raw dark chocolate chunks to make these even more decadent. These were freaking delicious! Sweet, spicy, decadent, fudgy. Pure chocolate bliss!

For the dough, in a food processor, combine the coconut flour, flaxseed, dates and salt, and process until the dates are very finely chopped and it is all well combined. Add the vanilla, jalapenos, lime zest and juice, zucchini, and cacao powder and coconut butter and process until smooth like dough. Mix in the chopped chocolate Then press the brownies into a 1 1/2 inch square on a foil lined sheet pan. Place in the freezer until the brownies are set (about an hour), then enjoy! Store in the fridge.

You used zucchini in this?!?! I would never have been able to tell! Your brownies look like they have a 'baked' texture, which is pretty rare in raw desserts, but I like that because I prefer a slightly more cakey brownie :)

No they are not the same. The coconut butter is the whole flesh of the coconut (dried) and ground, similar to nut butter. The oil is simply oil. You can make your own by buzzing finely shredded dried coconut in a high speed blender until smooth (similar to the process of making nut butter, just a lot faster).

Where do you find raw buckwheat groats? They only carry buckwheat in the WF bulk bins. Then I saw bob's redmill buckwheat. Could I soak and dehydrate these and get the same texture for flours and such? Thinking of the jalepeno lime brownies.

I buy them in the bulk section at the health food store I work in. Yes, you soak them to activate them, then dehydrate them to dry, then grind them for flour. If you didn't want to go through the trouble though, you can use additional coconut which I mention above. I always just keep a large bag of activated dried buckwheat groats in the freezer for when I need them so they are convenient.